Download Optical Data Storage: The past, present, and a possible future

Optical Data Storage:
The past, present, and a possible
future
By: Sam Burkhart
Physics 464: Applied Optics
Professor: Andres La Rosa
Spring 2009
Abstract:
It is my goal to introduce how optical data storage originated, and progressed to the point
it is now. Further more, I will look at what improvements must be made in future
technologies to facilitate a creating a competitive product for data storage. We will find
that far field optics will have to be abandoned if we are to fully utilize the potential for
the optical data disk.
The Beginning:
With the recent end of the so called "high definition wars", a new optical disk has taken
center stage. Blu-ray technology promises super-detailed images and ultra-high capacity
storage while being able to use on any platform from a television set to a computer. Yet,
when you compare Blu-ray disks to other alternate forms of data storage, you find it
lacking in size and data transfer speeds. An argument is made in Dror Sarid and Barry H.
Schechtman's article entitled "A Roadmap for Optical Data Storage Applications", some
possible alternative disk technologies are discussed. (1) Before that, the article (and I)
have to introduce the history of optical disks.
Compact Disks were originally devised as an audio media, replacing vinyl records and
LP's. The previous mediums used ridges on a physical medium to produce an analog
signal directly correlating to the sound produced. Optical Disks started their existence in
1969 where a Philips and Sony research team came up with the idea of storing data on
rings around a disk that would have pits or lands that would correspond to data. This
evolved into Laservision, released in 1975. Laservision was also produced as Laser Disk
(LD) and Disco Vision, and was primarily for video formats. Laservision was much
more popular in Japan than the U.S.A. It quickly became a collector's item in the U.S.
(9). After the failure of Laservision, the company decided to focus on audio only media.
In 1982, the Compact Disk was released by Sony as an audio medium to the Japanese
market. A year later the technology was introduced to the U.S. (2). Below is a
comparison of CD versus LP technology popularity.
Figure 1: Marketing comparison of early CD sales (2)
The CD evolved into many sub-types, the most general being the CD-ROM (generic data
storage) and later the CD-RW (rewritable). In 1996 Japan released a newer technology
called DVD (digital versatile disk). A year later DVD's were released to the U.S. (3)
Immink's 1998 paper compares DVD's with CD technology in-depth, and even gives a 10
year projections of the future capabilities of DVD technology. The following is a table
and graph used in Immink's paper to illustrate the differences between CD and DVD
technology.
Figure 2: DVD technology compared to CD-ROM
Figure 3: Growth of storage density of recording media
The important things to notice are the smaller wavelength, the higher reference
Numerical Aperture, dual layer capabilities, storage size ("spot" size), and access speed.
These are the things that made DVD's a viable alternative to the CD.
The Present:
The next stage of development has just begun with the introduction of Blu-Ray disk
technology by Sony in 2004 (4). Schechtman and Sarid's article details the differences
between CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray technologies in order to direct the field of study towards
various new technologies. (1) The following is a table that Schechtman and Sarid use to
show the differences between these three technologies, as well as HD-DVD, the main
competitor of Blu-Ray in the "HD wars". The graph shows the wavelength of laser being
used, the primary usage, the average access speed, and average disk capacity. In the
body of their text they also give values for the spot size and NA (numerical aperture)
value. For CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray respectively, the NA values are .45, .6, .85.
Something not discussed here is the evolution of encoding/decoding technologies that
made higher capacities viable. This was addressed in Immink's "The Story of the CD".
(2)
Figure 4: Optical Disk History
Now some may argue, with varying degree's of accuracy, that Blu-Ray has not sealed
itself in the market yet, and is not "DVD's replacement". This is for the market to
determine, but as a technology, Blu-Ray is a step up. Blu-Ray and HD DVD both use
shorter wavelength lasers (blue lasers). But as the following graph from Schechtman and
Sarid points out, Optical disks are not keeping up with Hard Disk technologies.
X-Ray Disks?
One option that Schectman and Sarid do not cover is decreasing the wavelength of the of
the light past the blue/violet range into x-ray scale disks. There is a company called XROM that specializes in the development of X-ray Read Only Memory disks and the
problems associated with them. The x-ray lazers use silicon doped with germanium in
regions of reflection to create "bits". Some of the stated advantages include no data
deterioration, Terabyte densities, and ultra-fast read out speeds. Current limitations
include the ability to downsize the apparatus, and doing so in a way that is safe for
consumer use. (10)
Figure 5: How x-ray readout would work
Figure 6: Storage density of hard drives vs. optical data storage
As can be seen here, Blu-Ray data size is equivalent to hard drive sizes of almost 10
years ago. The argument that is brought up in Schechtman and Sarid's article is that the
physics of the disks must change in order to compete as a possible data storage medium
of the future.
Comparing this to a projection in Immink's paper, "The CD Story", told through the eyes
of an engineer.
Figure 7: Projected DVD sizes
It is surprising at how this forecast over 10 years ago has been very close to coming true.
There was never a 20 GB DVD developed for commercial use, but Blu-Ray's
introduction in 2004 introduced a 50 GB "DVD type" medium.
The Future:
When Schechtman and Sarid finished their history and comparison of current optical disk
technologies, they then focus on where optical data storage must turn if it wants to stay
competitive against hard drive technologies. Schechtman and Sarid do state that there are
improvements to be made to Blu-Ray technology to potentially reach capacities of 200
GB/disk. This involves perfecting a six layer Blu-Ray disk, and would require much
faster read/write times to be viable alternatives to hard disks.
In order to reach sizes of 500GB - 1TB, optical disks need to change their optical
properties. Here Schechtman and Sarid lay out 4 different technologies that could either
decrease the "spot" size, or increase the number of usable layers.
Near Field Approach:
The first approach introduced uses the evanescent near field. The spot size is limited by
far field diffraction limits right now. Instead, we must change the optical physics we
apply to the problem. The idea being that to decrease spot size, you must use a lens with
a numerical aperture greater than 1. To do this you can use a Solid Immersion Lens or a
Solid Immersion Mirror to achieve this. I find it necessary to clarify some of these
concepts for my benefit, as well as the reader. The numerical aperture (NA) determines
some constraints on the optical system.
The highest resolution that you can achieve with a light of a given wavelength is  / NA .
2  o
For laser physics the NA is NA 
, where o is the vacuum wavelength of the light,
 D
and D is the diameter of the beam at its narrowest spot. For all optical disks the NA
determines the "pit size". (5) Near field optics is the domain of optics relating to optics
within a radius r   . For most applications the near field is defined as the Frenel Zone
2  D2
defined as r 
. (6) Solid Immersion Lenses (SIL's) allow a numerical aperture of

higher than one through a hemispherical lens design. Tom Milster's indepth analysis of
Solid Emersion Lens' and aperture systems of the near field is a great source to
understand the limiting factors of the evanescent near field optics. His conclusions state
the limiting factors for SIL's are; the Numerical Aperture of the SIL, and the gap
between the detector and the media. Milster estimates that DVD's could increase storage
density by 22x using SIL's or apertures. Milster concludes that it will be a combination
of SIL's and aperture's that will yield the most effective increase in contrast and size of
"spots". (8) Solid Immersion Mirrors provide a similar role without causing chromatic
aberrations. (7) Below is an example of how a SIL would work. (8)
Figure 8: Solid Immersion Lens detector system
Another way to decrease the spot size of the optical disk is to use localized surface
plasmon's (LSP). In theory LSP's can produce "spot" sizes close to 50 nm in size. (1)
The largest set back in this technology is the limitations of the through put. This may
require parallel transducers to fix. Both LSP's and SIL's have the problem of dealing
with the near field, where the space between the disk and detector/lens is on the order of
10-25 nm. At this size, dust and scratches can cause serious detection problems.
Another approach is to use Super-RENS (resolution near-field structures). These
structures do not need the close proximity, and are designed by integrating a metal or
metal-oxide nanostructure into the disk material. Spots in the range of 37 nm are able to
be read with an error in the order of 10^-3. Schechtman and Sarid describe the process as,
"High fields excited locally around each structure generate high temperature spots in
which the composition of the nanostructure is modified, resulting in a change of the
effective refractive index." (1) This is still in the development stage, and needs more
research before a commercial product can be achieved.
Volumetric Techniques:
The second method of increasing bit density is to increase the number of layers used in a
single disk, hence named the volumetric method. There are two specific ways Schectman
and Sarid analyze to accomplish this task. The graph below from Schectman and Sarid
demonstrates the data densities of various volumetric techniques.
Figure 9: Transfer rates and Data capacity of various volumetric approaches
The first is called the bit-wise approach. This system is being developed by Call-Recall
and Landauer. This technology defines "soft" layers, that are written at a prescribed
depth using a two-photon absorption method, and read back using the fluorescent
property of that layer. Parallel read back would increase data transfer rates. Researchers
working on this technology suggest layers in the order of 100, while practicality limits
the number of layers to several tens, according to Schechtman and Sarid. (1)
The second is the use of holographic disks. This technology is on the verge of being
commercially available, and is being pursued by InPhase, Optware, and Sony. There are
to major ways to read/write from a holographic disk. The first is to use angle
multiplexing, and the second is using the collinear phase-conjugation. InPhase has
produced polytopic multiplexing disks that have reached 300 GB, with a projection of
using multilayered holograms to create a 1.6 TB disk. Optware is producing collinear
multiplexed disks, and project a expected 2 TB disk, while claiming backwards
compatibility with DVD technology. Sony and other researchers are working out a
micro-reflector hologram technology that boasts 20 layers per disk, with a total of 500GB
per disk. (1) One of the biggest obstacles holographic disks had to overcome was the
mechanical vibrations introduced into the system. To deal with this, some formats
proposed include a cassette type version that holds the disk. Here is a demonstration on
how the collinear holographic approach would work.
Figure 10: comparison of 2-axis holography with Collinear Holography
Illustration 10 shows that compared to the more complex two-axis approach, the
Collinear method is compatible with CD and DVD technology for backwards
compatiblility, and utilizes one objective lens rather than 6 lenses in the two axis method.
Doing away with the two-axis method, the holographic disk method becomes very
practical, and viable as a new optical disk technology.
Figure 11: The structure of a holographic disk
In figure 11 we see the holographic disk utilizes two different colors of lasers to read and
write data. There is a green or blue laser used to record data, and a red laser to reference
the location on the disk. These reflective pits in conjunction with the red laser are the key
to creating a rugged system, and deals with previous vibration problems. Manufacturer's
of holographic disks propose an increase in the holographic data density, as can be seen
in figure 12.
Figure 12: Projected future of HVD
As can be seen from the illustration above, HVD-R technology is encased in a cassette
type covering offering larger data densities.(11)
Conclusion:
Optical disks have gone through 3 generations of changes, and have a sound projection
into the future. That said, in order to stay competitive with other data storage devices,
optical disks must increase in data density significantly. For commercial applications
they must increase their product lifetime and data transfer rates as well. They can
accomplish this by either decreasing the "spot" size, or increasing the number of layers
within a given disk. Either way, we must delve into a new level of physics to solve this
issue.
References:
1.
Schechtman, Barry H., and Dror Sarid. "A Roadmap for Optical Data Storage
Applications." Optics and photonics news 18 (2007): 32.
2.
Kees A. Schouhamer Immink (1998). "The CD Story" (html). Journal of the AES
46: 458–465. http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/cdstory.htm.
Retrieved on 2009-05-09.
3.
Johnson, Lawrence B. (September 7, 1997). "For the DVD, Disney Magic May
Be the Key". The New York Times.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407EEDC1730F934A3575AC
0A961958260. Retrieved on 2009-05-27.
4.
Martyn Williams (2004-08-05). "New Blu-ray Details Emerge". pcworld.com.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117242-page,1/article.html. Retrieved on
2009-05-27.
5.
"Numerical aperture -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 28 May 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_Aperture>.
6.
"Near and far field -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 28 May 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_and_far_field>.
7.
"Near-Field Solid-Immersion Mirror Records Data Optically (Photonics Spectra |
Dec 2005 | Tech News)." Photonics.com: Optical, Laser and Fiber Optics
Resource. 28 May 2009
<http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=23698>.
8.
T.D. Milster. “Near-field optical data storage: Avenues for improved
performance,” Opt. Eng. 40, 2255 (2001).
9.
"Laserdisc -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 11 June 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc>.
10.
Welcome to X-ROM Home (the X-ray based ultra-high density Optical Data
Storage technology home). 11 June 2009 <http://www.x-rom.org/index.html>.
11.
"About HVD - Technology." HVD forum. 11 June 2009 <http://hvdforum.org/abouthvd/technology.html>.